Glossary of Cooking Terms

A cheesecloth bag with a closeable opening or a piece of cheesecloth tied with a string to close, which is filled with spices.

Basically the same type of tool used to grind coffee beans can be used as a tool to grind dried spices but it is strongly suggested to not use it for both.

A utensil made to roast or toast various spices in order to enhance the flavors contained in the spice.

Descriptor often used for a food or beverage that has been seasoned with spices or naturally contains spices that provide a sharp flavor or aroma considered to be hot, tart, or pungent.

A long handled device used to skim the surface or to remove items from hot liquid or fat.

Similar in purpose to a sieve, this kitchen utensil is most often used to retrieve foods that are being cooked in pots or pans of hot water.

A leafy green vegetable or salad green with a flavor that is slightly bitter tasting, derived from the oxalic acid contained in spinach.

A ribbon pasta made from pasta dough that has had finely chopped spinach added to it when the dough was made.

Very common in India and Italian dishes, this type of sauce is used as a base for cooking and flavoring dishes with poultry, vegetables, legumes, and pasta.

A precooked ham that has been pre-sliced by spiral cutting in order to make it convenient for serving the ham slices.

Strands of pasta that are coiled into a shape resembling a spring. Similar to fusilli bucati, only spiralini is shorter and coiled closer together.

A rotating skewer used for roasting meat or poultry over an open fire or other type of heat source.

A kitchen tool, which helps to prevent hot grease and other hot materials from being splattered out of the pan as food is being cooked.

A fruit that comes from the Pacific Rose family of apples, this apple is a cross between a Red Dougherty and a Golden Delicious.

In reference to wine, "split" is a term used to describe a six-ounce bottle.

A dried variety of a yellow or green pea, which is referred to as a field pea and belongs to the legume family.

A thick soup that may appear similar to a chowder, containing a larger proportion of solid ingredients and a smaller amount of liquid broth.

A kitchen utensil with an open-celled texture that is semi-hard when dry or soft and porous when wet.

A cake made from a mixture of egg yolks and sugar, which has been beaten until fluffy, and then has beaten egg whites folded into it.

A type of bread dough leavening method that combines some of the benefits of the direct leavening method with the some of the benefits of the sourdough starter leavening method.

A process in breadmaking where there is a period time allowed for fermentation during the mixing stage.

A type of sherbet that is made with a combination of fruit juice and light sugar syrup.

A dish that more closely resembles a pudding or a soufflé than an actual type of bread.

A perennial evergreen plant that grows in the northern coastal regions on salty damp ground.

Originating in Ireland, the Spotted Dog is a fruit bread made using the same key ingredients as the traditional Irish Soda Bread with the addition of sugar and dried fruit.

Soft fresh cheeses that have a creamy smooth texture allowing the cheese to be easily shaped or spread onto other foods, such as crackers, fruits and vegetables.

Often referred to as a preserve, this fruit spread can be used like a jam or a preserve to be spread on crackers, bread, toasted foods, or baked goods.

The meat from a young sheep, generally under one year old. Also called "lamb" or "genuine lamb." Spring lamb is usually marketed at a weight ranging from 20 to 40 pounds.

A mixture of small, young salad greens, herbs and edible flowers. The greens are a mixture of textures and sweet, spicy and bitter flavors.

A green onion that has been harvested during the early stages of growth when it is smaller in diameter, pear-shaped, and long stemmed.

A Chinese appetizer that began as a traditional food served to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese New Year, which occurs during the spring season.

An Asian noodle wrapper that is paper thin, used to wrap meat, vegetables and other fillings, which are then deep-fried in the wrapper.

A hardwood rolling pin that is used for the single purpose of making Springerle cookies.

A round pan, with tall, straight sides that are removable. The removable sides aid in removing cakes that would otherwise be difficult to remove, such as cheesecakes and tortes.

A sweet melon, native to Asia that is a hybrid of the honeydew melon. Small in size, this melon typically weighs approximately a pound and measures 4 to 6 inches in diameter when harvested.

German term for a slightly sparkling wine. The small bubbles give the wine a lift, masking sweetness and providing a refreshing tingle.

The firm but tender new shoots of seeds and beans, such as mung beans, lentils, soybeans, and alfalfa and radish seeds.

A type of pasta made by artisans in southern Italy that have a long heritage of producing unique and high quality pastas.

Pronounced spoo-mahn-tay. Italian term for sparkling wine, in contrast to the term frizzante which refers to those wines that are slightly sparkling.

An Italian ice cream dessert. The dessert consists of a layer of ice cream topped with a sweetened whipped cream flavored with rum.

Hardened boiled sugar that forms fine strands for decorating desserts. It is made by slowly boiling sugar, water and cream of tarter to a hard-crack stage.

Large in size, this apple was developed as a cross between a Northern Spy and a Golden Delicious apple.

Most notably known as "Pinot Noir". A grape varietal, used in the production of red and sparkling wines, originating in the Burgundy region of France.

A young pigeon approximately four weeks old, having dark, tender meat and weighing no more than one pound.

The fruits of various members of the gourd family, which fall into two classifications, summer squash and winter squash.

The blossoms from any squash plant, which range from pale yellow to orange in color and are picked just before they are ready to open, and should be used almost immediately after they are picked.

Creamy textured, this soup is produced from various species of squash that not only have excellent flavor but also a dense meat that allows it to pureed well for soup.

A shellfish that is a member of the cephalopod variety of mollusks. There are three main species found in the United States, the long-finned, winter squid and the short-finned, summer squid found on the East Coast and the opalescent squid, also called California or Monterey squid, found on the West Coast.

A deep black substance extracted from the ink sack of an ocean squid, a sea dweller that is also known as Calamari.

Any type of pasta that has been enhanced with the chemical substance extracted from the ocean squid so it becomes very black in color.